SPEARFISH, S.D.— The Black Hills State University women's basketball team had an opportunity to begin the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season on a solid note Thursday evening at the Young Center. South Dakota Mines stood in the Yellow Jacket's way as they were looking to begin their inaugural RMAC season with a bang.

The Yellow Jackets held a 42-50 all-time record against the Hardrockers prior to Thursday night's contest. BHSU had to rebound from a heartbreaking 52-49 loss to Northern State on November 17 as well as a two-week layoff. 

The Yellow Jackets prevailed under those circumstances in a 51-43 win over South Dakota Mines. 

Black Hills State improves to 3-1, 1-0 RMAC while the Hardrockers fall to 3-2, 0-1 RMAC

Yellow Jackets 51, South Dakota Mines 43

Both teams utilized the opening minutes of the first frame to feel each other out. The Hardrockers and Yellow Jackets each came up short with multiple missed jump shots en route to a 0-0 score three minutes into the contest.

Kassidy Scott broke the scoring drought when she caught a Bailey Kusser pass from half court and converted on a layup give BHSU a 2-0 lead at the 6:31 mark of the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets and South Dakota Mines traded leads four times, thanks to Megan Rohrer's three-pointer, and jump shot to pace the Hardrockers to an 11-10 lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter.

Christine Thorn nailed a jump shot with six :06 left in the first quarter to give BHSU a 12-11 lead.

The Hardrockers took a brief 14-12 lead at the 8:44 mark of the second quarter before Cheyanne Balster's jump shot knotted the game 14-14 with 7:17 left.

Three-point buckets from Sierra Toms and Thorn propelled BHSU to a 24-15 lead with 3:00 left in the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets secured a 24-17 lead at halftime. 

South Dakota Mines failed to register a field goal during the opening five minutes of the third quarter as BHSU stormed to a 5-1 run en route to a 29-18 lead with 5:23 left.  That was enough to fuel the Hardrockers as they inched closer.

Rohrer and Molstad each knocked down three-pointers to narrow the BHSU lead to 37-31 at the 1:14 mark of the third quarter. Kahlie Peterson closed the margin to five points with a jump shot at the buzzer to make the score 38-33 after three quarters.

The Hardrockers continued to have the Yellow Jackets on their toes as they opened the fourth quarter with a 7-3 run. Peterson converted on an and-one at the 5:53 mark of the fourth quarter, which narrowed the BHSU lead to 41-40.

A pair of Toms jump shots down the stretch gave BHSU the insurance they needed, which helped the green and gold jump to a 47-40 lead with 2:56 left in the game. The 6-0 run was enough to help the Yellow Jackets secure a 51-43 win.

Thorn led BHSU with 18 points while Toms chipped in 11, both career highs.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action tomorrow, Friday, December 4 against Trinity Bible College. Game time from the Young Center is set for 5:30 p.m.